PM hails BRICS' decision to launch development bank

Hailing the BRICS summit's decision to launch a development bank and a Contingency Reserve Arrangement (CRA), Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the country's initiatives in these projects made a significant progress.

Hailing the BRICS summit's decision to launch a development bank and a Contingency Reserve Arrangement (CRA), Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said the country's initiatives in these projects made a significant progress.

"As would have been seen from the BRICS Declaration, a number of important steps have been taken. I am particularly glad that some projects, which were either conceived at the New Delhi Summit of BRICS in March 2012, or were piloted by India during its just-concluded Chairmanship of BRICS, have registered important progress," Singh said.

"These include the agreement on Contingent Reserve Pooling arrangements, the announcement of setting up of a BRICS Development Bank and the setting up of the BRICS Business Council and the BRICS Consortium of Think Tanks," he told reporters accompanying him on his return from a four-day visit to Durban to attend the summit.

Noting that he had just concluded a very satisfying visit to South Africa, Singh said apart from pursuing such cooperation that is for mutual benefit, the BRICS Forum also provided its leaders a platform on which to consult and coordinate policy positions on issues of major international significance.

"I was glad to see once again that there are many areas in which BRICS countries have shared concerns and perspectives."

He said for India BRICS was a very important forum representing nearly 27% of the global GDP, about 40% of the world population and as such there was a growing complementarity.

Of course, he said, this relationship between India and China has elements of coordination, cooperation and competition.

"I certainly value this opportunity (summit) annually to review the strength of the global economy, the events that are taking place in various regions of the world and events which have obviously implications for our own growth and prosperity," Singh said.

On reforms of institutions of global governance, the prime minister said there was a need to revisit Security Council membership taking into account the contemporary realities and countries likes India should certainly find a place in the expanded Council.

On IMF, he said it was somewhat disappointing that the reforms agenda like decision-making processes and quota seems to have slowed down.